Category: Taxes

If you build it, they will come, but will they have a place to park? That’s the conundrum now facing the future Las Vegas Raiders as they figure out the logistics of their new home, Las Vegas Stadium. A study released in June shows the stadium site at the corner of Russell Road and Dean Martin Drive can fit just 2,400 parking spots within the planned site footprint. That’s just 15 percent of the 16,250 parking spaces required by Clark County code for a facility that will seat 65,000 people.

It’s a nondescript location on this 114-degree June day, but in mere months construction should begin on the new home for the National Football League’s (NFL) Raiders. This will be the world’s most costly stadium, built heavily on the backs of taxpayers. As with many taxes for stadium support, tourists will largely pay the costs for the Las Vegas Stadium. The Nevada Legislature passed a lodging tax increase quickly in a 2016 special session to raise the revenue for the public subsidy when the NFL came calling.

This piece was published in the Hill on August 22, 2017.Congress has arrived at a decisive moment. Following months of legislative turbulence and indecision, the healthcare debate is subsiding, opening a critical opportunity to address tax reform. For Congress, this is a test of dedication to all taxpayers. The question is whether they will allow petty differences and harsh words to dominate the process again or if they will inspire voters by demonstrating unity and vision.

It is no surprise that the decision to raise taxes on cigarettes is backfiring spectacularly. Illegal cigarettes are now robbing taxpayers of an estimated $40 billion in tax revenue each year. Time and time again lawmakers turn to taxing soda and tobacco as lucrative revenue opportunities. But, budgeting problems stem from not spending money effectively or profligate spending rather than not having enough money. Budgetary solutions shouldn’t come from tax increases, they should come from fiscal discipline. In addition to lost revenue, another consequence of raising tobacco taxes is the increase in illicit trade of tobacco that fuels criminal enterprises. » Read More

Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) reacted to the Joint Statement on Tax Reform released by leaders in the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. The Statement signals House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) willingness to move ahead on comprehensive tax reform, including lowering rates and reducing the number of brackets, while eschewing the Border-Adjustment Tax (BAT). » Read More

While it might seem lately that the healthcare debate is sucking up all the oxygen in Washington, there has also been an uptick, albeit limited, in activity and discussion about tax reform on Capitol Hill. In May and June there were multiple hearings in the House and Senate, with additional hearings scheduled for July. And, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) recently laid out tax reform principles in a major speech before the National Association of Manufacturers.

On June 20, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivered a speech on comprehensive tax reform that should delight citizens across the country fighting to downsize the tax code and lower rates. In the speech delivered at the National Association of Manufacturers’ office, Speaker Ryan highlighted the issues with the current code, including overall complexity, outlandish corporate rates and numerous burdensome provisions, like the death tax. Most importantly, however, Speaker Ryan stated, “We are going to get this done in 2017.” That is a promising line from Speaker Ryan, in that it signals his resolve to tackle this “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Over the past few years, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has highlighted numerous examples of waste in the construction of public works, including government headquarters, schools, and roads. Leveraging private funds to pursue public projects can shield taxpayers from these risks, and harness efficiencies not normally achievable in the public sector. Unfortunately, the public-private partnership (PPP) model is discouraged by the federal tax code, which limits the amount of private funding that can be used in a project financed by tax-exempt bonds. To loosen this restriction, TPA supports the Public Buildings Renewal Act (H.R. 960 in the House and S. 326 in the Senate), which would make public buildings eligible for qualified private activity bond (PAB) financing. State and local governments would finally be able to invite private players onto public projects with tax-exempt bond financing, resulting in significant taxpayer savings and faster completion times. TPA signed onto this coalition letter, organized by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), in support of the legislation. » Read More

With tax reform right around the corner, lawmakers must consider which onerous provisions to target first. While there’s no shortage of taxes that unfairly gauge taxpayers, inheritance (death) taxes are in a class of their own. Prevailing law requires that every deceased person’s estate worth at least $4,450,000 be subjected to a “death tax” of forty percent. This, paired with the gift tax targeting gifts over $14,000, transfers nearly $25 billion per year from landowners to bureaucrats. After a failed attempt at repeal during the Obama administration, President Trump promised on the campaign trail to remove these onerous provisions from the tax code. Next week, the House can fulfill this vision by passing H.R. 198, which plans to eliminate a host of inheritance taxes including estate, gift, and generation- skipping transfer levies. Congress can finally axe a series of taxes that are immoral, unnecessary, and burdensome to business owners.

Tax Day 2017 is over, and for many Americans that’s a huge relief. Unfortunately, a greater relief for taxpayers would be for Washington to make comprehensive tax reform a priority and a reality. But that has yet to happen despite having the perfect conditions to get something done. And, as the Taxpayers Protection Alliance spoke to folks from around the country, the message was clear: People from all walks of life want tax reform now. The problem with the current tax code is crystal clear: It’s too complicated. The tax code currently has 10 million words, and growing. Every year, an estimated 100,000 words are added to the tax code. This growth causes a drain on time and money by taking away billions of hours and billions of dollars from hard-working families to comply with a code that is in real need of slimming down.

As President Trump marks his 100th day in office, commentators are already busy sizing up the leader’s legacy. The President’s short time in the Oval Office has been greeted with a constant stream of protests, cries for impeachment, and bouts of reflexive praise. Despite attempts to characterize the presidency in one word or phrase, the Mr. Trump’s performance has been wildly uneven. With a government shutdown looming around the same time as this milestone takes place, the stakes have become that much higher for the President to appear as though he is on or ahead of schedule with the laundry list of policy priorities he had coming into office. To highlight the positives and underscore the need for further improvement, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has graded the chief executive on his approach to regulation, tax reform, and spending.

Tax reform continues to be major priority for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and a critical component to getting our economy back on the right track. The positive impact of overhauling our complicated tax code can reach individuals and businesses and be a major boon to productivity. While Congress continues to craft their plan, based largely on House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) Better Way for Tax Reform Blueprint, the Trump administration is still working on their own proposal. In TPA tradition, as Tax Day 2017 approaches, we took to the streets of the nation’s capital to ask Americans from all walks of life their thoughts on tax reform, and the process of getting their taxes done. Watch what they had to say!

While comprehensive tax reform continues to be a work in progress for Congress; there are some measures that Washington must take to chip away at a bloated tax code that sometimes works against Americans. One example is repealing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Any tax reform package no matter how big or small must include repeal of FATCA. While FATCA was sold under the heading of a way to catch wealthy tax dodgers, instead it has harmed many innocent Americans and threatened financial privacy in a way that no law should ever carry out. That is why the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) signed a letter urging House and Senate Leadership to include FATCA repeal in any type of tax reform legislation. Repealing FATCA is critical to preserving the financial privacy of U.S. citizens, which have been eroded by federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service for years now. Repealing of FATCA will also help to preserve and strengthen the financial freedoms and choices of all Americans.

With health care reform on pause, Washington now turns the spotlight on the next big ticket item from the Trump administration legislative agenda: comprehensive tax reform. And while there has been much discussion on Capitol Hill about the GOP tax reform blueprint, “A Better Way” which was introduced by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the White House has so far kept details about its own plan close to the vest. That could soon change.

Transforming our nation’s moss covered tax-and-regulatory apparatus will take patience and consensus building, as demonstrated by the latest row over health care reform. Eager to reset the tone on policy reform, Congress and the Trump Administration will attempt a gargantuan rewrite of the tax code (the first since 1986). But, gone are the days when the Republicans can get away with claiming “tax reform” by only slashing individual rates. Business owners have grown weary of the cumbersome filing process that creates just another barrier to hiring and expanding. In particular, firms trying to write-off assets such as computers and furniture must grapple with a complicated depreciation schedule which favors some industries but condemns others to high tax burdens. Firms focused on acquiring the latest technologies are especially at a disadvantage, given how quickly the lifespan of “average” machines change. According to the IRS, computers have an asset life of 5 years, but this determination rewards companies that hold onto their computers for the full five years.

Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) released findings from a new poll conducted to find out how the public viewed the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT), priorities for tax reform, and components of what may be included in upcoming legislation from Congress. The poll was conducted with a nationwide sample of 1001 likely voters (margin of error, 3.1 percent) with an additional oversample of 200 likely Republican voters.

Here are some of the key findings:

Despite general support for exports and manufacturing, there is limited enthusiasm among consumers for paying more for goods to encourage those things.

There’s clarity among respondents that the border adjustment will raise prices.

A clear majority of voters prefer tax cuts to be accompanied by reductions in federal spending rather than increases in other taxes. Just 18 percent indicated they favored the current approach of offsetting tax increases; 72 percent (82 percent among Republicans) said they favored cuts in federal spending.

Trust in Congress is limited. Just 29 percent of voters said they trusted Congress to pass the legislation in a way that helps consumers; 63 percent said they did not trust Congress to do that. Among Republicans, 67 percent trust President Trump more than Congress on tax reform; only 11 percent trust Congress more.

Some big multinational corporations, like GE and Boeing, are waging a dishonest campaign to pass the ill-conceived Border Adjustment Tax (BAT). One of their biggest falsehoods is that there is a “Made in America Tax” that discriminates against products built in domestic factories. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that imports face consumption taxes in the U.S. at the state and local level, and exports are taxed similarly in the overseas markets where they are sold. While there are many inequities in the existing tax code that impede businesses and job creation, the BAT won’t make the American economy more competitive, and it is likely to destroy manufacturing jobs, not create them.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has a mixed evaluation of President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress and the American people. With a national debt nearing $20 trillion, spending is out of control. TPA is disappointed that President Trump has called for more Defense spending. TPA is also disheartened that he did not address Washington’s runaway spending. Taxpayers should be encouraged that the President is committed to comprehensive tax and regulatory reform.

Tonight, President Trump will ascend to the lectern and articulate his policy vision to a joint session of Congress. Presidents have used past joint sessions to focus on a myriad of issues, from voting rights to foreign foes to economic policy. But as the new President makes his first address on Capitol Hill, the plight of the taxpayer could and should take the forefront.